Control device

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for controlling the operational states of motor vehicle gears including a console, a lever mounted in the console whereby the lever can be articulated between a plurality of maneuverable positions corresponding to the operational states of the motor vehicle gears, the console comprising a housing and including a first groove and at least one track on at least one of the inner surfaces of the housing, a first support defining a first pivot hinge for the lever including a ball and socket joint whereby the first support permits the lever to pivot about an unlimited number of spatial pivot axes with respect to the housing, a second support defining a second pivot hinge, the first pivot hinge and the second pivot hinge defining a first pivot axis, whereby the lever can be maneuvered about the first pivot axis, and a third support having a longitudinal axis, the second support including a first pin mounted along the first pivot axis and prestressed toward the first groove, and the third support including a second pin mounted along the longitudinal axis of the third support and prestressed towards the at least one track.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a maneuvering apparatus, comprising amaneuvering lever and a maneuvering console and provided with at least afirst pivot hinge by means of which the lever is articulated relative tothe maneuvering console for switching between a number of maneuveringpositions intended to be converted to corresponding operational statesof a device which is to be maneuvered.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For a general type of maneuvering apparatus, namely gear controls formotor vehicles, there are a number of known arrangements. These aregenerally designed in principle for a specific movement pattern, suchas, for example, the gear controls for manual gear boxes or forautomatic transmissions. The most common type of automatic transmissionsare fully automatic with automatic gear changing between different gearstages, but in recent times automatic transmissions have been developedwhich give the driver the option to simply determine the desired gearposition by lightly pivoting the gear lever to and fro with shortmovements.

An object of the present invention is to provide a basic design formaneuvering apparatus which can be used for several different types ofmaneuvering applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, this and other objects havenow been realized by the invention of apparatus for control of theoperational states of a device comprising a maneuvering console, amaneuvering lever mounted in the maneuvering console whereby themaneuvering lever can be articulated between a plurality of maneuverablepositions corresponding to the operational states of the device, themaneuvering console comprising a housing including a plurality of innersurfaces and including a first groove and at least one track on at leastone of the plurality of inner surfaces, a first support member defininga first pivot hinge for the maneuvering lever and comprising a ball andsocket joint whereby the first support member permits the maneuveringlever to pivot about an unlimited number of spatial pivot axes withrespect to the housing, a second support member defining a second pivothinge, the first pivot hinge and the second pivot hinge defining a firstpivot axis, whereby the maneuvering lever can be maneuvered about thefirst pivot axis, and a third support member having a longitudinal axis,the second support member including a first pin member mounted along thefirst pivot axis and prestressed towards the first groove, and the thirdsupport member including a second pin member mounted along thelongitudinal axis of the third support member and prestressed towardsthe at least one track.

In accordance with one embodiment of the apparatus of the presentinvention, the first pivot axis and the longitudinal axis of the thirdsupport member each intersect the first pivot hinge.

In accordance with another embodiment of the apparatus of the presentinvention, the apparatus includes a holder mounted on the maneuveringlever, the first and second pin members being mounted on the holder.

In accordance with another embodiment of the apparatus of the presentinvention, the at least one track includes a plurality of indentations,thereby defining a plurality of distinct positions for the maneuveringlever along the at least one track.

The objects of the present invention are achieved by means of amaneuvering apparatus which is characterized by the pivot hinge forminga first support member for the maneuvering lever in the maneuveringconsole, in that the pivot hinge is arranged to permit pivoting of themaneuvering lever relative to the maneuvering console about an unlimitednumber of spatial pivot axes, a second support member for themaneuvering lever relative to the maneuvering console forming a secondpivot hinge for the maneuvering lever, which together with the firstpivot hinge defines a pivot axis for the maneuvering lever, in that thesecond support member is prestressed towards a groove of the maneuveringapparatus, and a third support member forming a control member which isprestressed towards at least one defined track in the maneuveringapparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully appreciated with reference tothe following detailed description, which in turn refers to the attacheddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of one embodiment of the maneuveringapparatus of the present invention in which a rear portion has beenremoved and the apparatus is in drive position D;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view, partially cut-away, of themaneuvering apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the maneuvering apparatus shown inFIG. 1 in which the concealed parts are shown in phantom view;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a groove included in a maneuveringapparatus of the present invention demonstrating an example of amovement pattern for the maneuvering lever thereof;

FIG. 5 is a side, elevational, cross-sectional view of the maneuveringapparatus shown in FIG. 3 taken along line IV—IV thereof;

FIG. 6 is a front, elevational, cross-sectional view of a portion of themaneuvering apparatus shown in FIG. 5 taken along line VI thereof;

FIG. 7 is a front, elevational, cross-sectional view of a portion of themaneuvering apparatus of the present invention as shown in FIG. 5, butin position M;

FIG. 8 is a front, elevational, cross-sectional view of a portion of themaneuvering apparatus of the present invention as shown in FIG. 7 takenalong line VIII—VIII thereof; and

FIG. 9 is top, elevational view of a portion of the maneuveringapparatus of the present invention in which the cover has been removedtherefrom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The maneuvering apparatus according to the present invention is, in theexample shown, a gear control for automatic transmissions, in whichthere has also been included a function for manual selection of gearpositions. The gear control is shown completely separate from thetransmission functions which are needed to convert the mechanicalpositions of the gear control into the gear position of the gearbox.This can be done either by complete electrical detection andtransmission of the gear control positions, mechanically by means of oneor more wires or links, or alternatively by a combination of electricaland mechanical transmission.

The basic construction will first be described with reference to FIGS.1-5 and consists in a known manner of a maneuvering lever 1 and amaneuvering console 2 in which the maneuvering lever is articulated inorder to adopt different maneuvering positions. The maneuvering consoleis constructed as a housing with two side pieces, 3 and 4, and front andback pieces, of which the back piece has been removed for the sake ofclarity, and a cover part 6 through which the maneuvering lever extendswith its lever part 7 through a groove 8, which is configured accordingto the actual movement pattern of the lever. At the top, the maneuveringlever has a maneuvering knob (not shown) which is intended to be grippedby the driver for the purpose of selecting the maneuvering position.

The lever 1 thus protrudes into a space in the housing and ispositionally controlled in the housing by means of three supportmembers, i.e. three support points. At the bottom, the lever has a pivothinge 9 which forms a defined hinge point 10 in the maneuvering console2, representing the first support point. In the example shown, thissupport point or support member is formed by a ball 11 which is arrangedat the lower end of the lever part 7 and is mounted in a socket 12 in abottom part 13 of the maneuvering console. The pivot hinge 9 as suchpermits pivoting of the maneuvering lever in space about an unlimitednumber of different geometric pivot axes.

According to the present invention, the maneuvering lever 1 has a secondsupport member 14 at a second support point which, together with thefirst support member, i.e. the pivot hinge 9, forms a pivot axis 16 forthe maneuvering lever 1, which axis, in the example shown, can beadjusted relative to the maneuvering console 2. The pivot axis 16 isfixed in orientation relative to the lever part 7 and its longitudinalaxis 18, but it can alternatively be fixed in orientation in thehousing. The second support member 14 is designed as a spring-loadedpiston pin 19 which at its outer end 21 is shaped as a ball which, bymoving along a track, for example in grooves between defined points onthe inner wall 23 of the maneuvering console 2, can be adjusted betweendifferent geometric axis positions, in the example shown two positionsrelative to the maneuvering console 2.

In addition to a piece of the maneuvering console 2 being cut away inFIG. 2, a piece of the maneuvering lever 1 has also been removed, namelya piece of a holder 28 which is fixed to the lower end of the lever part7 and, in the example shown, is designed as a plate-like piece which isprovided with a first bore 29 in which the piston pin 19 is resilientlystressed by means of a compression spring 30 between the inside 23 ofthe maneuvering console 2 and the bottom of the axial bore. In acorresponding manner, a control member 15 in the form of a control pin20 is fitted in a second bore 31 and stressed by means of a compressionspring 32 between the bottom of the bore and the inside of themaneuvering console, more precisely different control tracks and catchpositions on the inside of the cover part 6. The control member 15 formsthe third support member, i.e. the third support point, which isdisplaceable along tracks, for example in grooves between differentpositions in the housing, more precisely the inside of the cover part,as will be described in more detail hereinbelow.

According to the present invention, the control member 15 controls themovement pattern of the maneuvering lever in cooperation with thecontrol tracks, 27 and 37, which can be configured in accordance withthe desired movement pattern.

As can best be seen from FIG. 6, the control track 27 is designed as arecess with a number of catch positions in the form of indentations, 33,34 and 35, in the track, these each representing a maneuvering positionfor the maneuvering lever 1. The catch positions can be overcome byapplying an extra force to the lever. The required force is chosen byselecting the form of the indentations 33, 34 and 35, i.e. inclinationof the edges and the height of the intermediate peaks 33 and springconstants of the spring 32. The catch positions can also be blocked bymeans of a locking mechanism (not shown) which has to be released beforethe lever is pivoted in a certain direction. In an automatictransmission, the three positions can represent, for example, reverseposition R in catch position 33, neutral position N in catch position34, and drive position D in catch position 35 (see also FIG. 4).

The above-described catch positions in the track 27 are thus activatedwhen the pivot hinge 14 is situated in the position shown in FIG. 5,with the piston pin 19 against the support point 24 on the maneuveringconsole 2.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, the support point 24 can be displacedalong the inside of the maneuvering console 2 by means of the fact thatthe piston pin 19 with its end 21 is movable in a groove 36 in themaneuvering console, at the same time as the control pin 20 can beswitched from the track 27 to a second track 37. This has a neutralposition 38 in the form of the bottom of a recess which creates aresistance that has to be overcome in order to displace the end 22 ofthe locking pin 20 to one of the two inclined portions, 39 and 40, ofthe track 37. This track represents an alternative gear change mode inwhich the automatic gear change is replaced by a manually activated gearchange by moving the lever forwards to position+ or backwards toposition− from a neutral position M (see FIG. 4), it being possible tochange up gear or change down gear for each movement forwards orbackwards, respectively.

In order to permit the movement pattern described above by way ofexample, the groove 8, as can best be seen from FIG. 4, is designed witha main groove 41 which is used for choosing between catch positions forthe track 27, and a side groove 42 for the alternative gear change modewith the catch pin 22 in the track 37 according to FIGS. 7 and 8. Fortransfer between the two grooves, there is a transverse groove 43 forthe lever part 7, which groove 43 defines a transverse path with araised part which defines the stop position.

With the above-described embodiment, no play whatsoever occurs becausethe pivot hinge of the maneuvering lever, i.e. the first support point,is prestressed, on the one hand, from the side by means of the secondsupport point, i.e. the piston pin 19, and, on the other hand, fromabove by means of the third support point, i.e. the catch pin 20. Thenormal maneuvering forces are taken up by the first pivot hinge 9 andthe control member, while the groove 8 in the cover part 6 takes upoverload forces and thus protects the support member against damage. Thesupport members in the maneuvering apparatus can therefore be givenrelatively small dimensions.

As will be evident from the figures, the upper edge 28′ of the holder 28and the underside 6′ of the cover part have a spherical shape with acurvature whose center of curvature lies at the pivot center of thelever 1. The spherical surfaces facing each other form bearing surfacesagainst each other and they have a clearance which is chosen to limitlifting movements of the lever.

Finally, FIG. 9 shows a top view in which the cover part and the frontand back pieces have been removed, that is to say only the side pieces,3 and 4, of the maneuvering console 2 are depicted. Arranged in the sidepieces there are switching members, 41, 42, 43, and 44, which, in theexample shown, are four in number and consist, for example, of microswitches, which, when coupled in a suitable manner into a currentcircuit, can form logic functions which give information on the variouspositions of the gear lever 1. The switches are provided with sensorarms which, by cooperating with bevelled control surfaces, 25, 46, 47,and of the holder 28, switch the switches, which can give information onthe different positions in the ordinary gear change mode.

In FIG. 9, the lever is shown, by way of example in gear change positionD, in which case the switch 4 is unactuated, e.g. open, and the switch44 is actuated, e.g. closed. In position N, both switches are actuated,while in position R the switch 43 is unactuated. This information can beused for electrical transmission to the gearbox, e.g. by means ofsolenoid-controlled valves. The gear change positions in the alternativegear change mode in groove 42 can also be detected in cooperation withthe two switches, 41 and 42, which in this case advantageously detectthe two alternative positions of the pin 19 according to FIGS. 5 and 7,respectively. The use of two switches for logic control is described ingreater detail in Swedish Patent Application No. 9600847-9.

The present invention is not limited to the illustrative embodimentdescribed above and shown in the drawing, and instead it can be variedwithin the scope of the attached claims. For example, it is in principleconceivable for the control pin 20 to serve as pivot axle in thealternative gear change mode, in which case the pin 19 is allowed toexecute a sideways movement, i.e. the axle functions change between twoaxles. Both pins can instead be axially mounted in the housing andstressed against surfaces of the holder.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerousmodifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that otherarrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for control of the operational statesof a device comprising a maneuvering console, a maneuvering levermounted in said maneuvering console whereby said maneuvering lever canbe articulated between a plurality of maneuverable positionscorresponding to said operational states of said device, saidmaneuvering console comprising a housing including a plurality of innersurfaces and including a first groove and at least one track on at leastone of said plurality of inner surfaces, a first support member defininga first pivot hinge for said maneuvering lever and comprising a ball andsocket joint whereby said first support member permits said maneuveringlever to pivot about an unlimited number of spatial pivot axes withrespect to said housing, a second support member defining a second pivothinge, said first pivot hinge and said second pivot hinge defining afirst pivot axis, whereby said maneuvering lever can be maneuvered aboutsaid first pivot axis, and a third support member having a longitudinalaxis, said second support member including a first pin member mountedalong said first pivot axis and prestressed towards said first groove,and said third support member including a second pin member mountedalong said longitudinal axis of said third support member andprestressed towards said at least one track.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said first pivot axis and said longitudinal axis of said thirdsupport member each intersect said first pivot hinge.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1 including a holder mounted on said maneuvering lever, saidfirst and second pin members being mounted on said holder.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said at least one track includes aplurality of indentations, thereby defining a plurality of distinctpositions for said maneuvering lever along said at least one track.